Close Encounters
by Barb1
Summary: Liz Parker finds herself caught in an adventure with an FBI agent named Fox Mulder.
1. The Highway

"Liz are you OK

"Liz are you OK?"  
  
Liz Parker heard the voice and pulled herself out of the dark place where she had been. She looked over at who was speaking to her and found Maria staring at her, pulling off concern even with that ridiculous alien antennae bobbing on her head.   
  
"Yeah, of course," Liz lied. "Why?"  
  
"Because you've been staring at the Czechoslovakians for ten minutes now."  
  
Liz looked back and realized that she been starting at Michael, Isabel, Tess, and Max in the back booth at the Crashdown. Max looked up at her and she could still see the pain in his eyes. She had often thought that his beautiful, expressive eyes were what she loved most about him. Now they were killing her softly. She turned and rushed into the back room. Maria followed her.   
  
"Liz, are you ever going to tell me what happened," she asked.  
  
Liz opened her mouth: *Yes! Yes, yes, yes. I have to tell you what I did, why I did it. I didn't sleep with Kyle. I could never sleep with him. I love Max. I will love him until the last breath in my body is gone. Because I love him, and you, Maria, and all of our friends, I had to lie to him. I had to break his heart. I had to break my own.*  
  
Slowly she shook her head. If she told Maria, there was the chance--a good chance--that she would tell Max. And if Max knew, then it would have been for nothing. He would love her again and her deception and all of the pain it caused and quite possibly the end of the world would result from it.  
  
Maria sighed. She thought she understood what Liz was going through. She and Michael had always had a volatile relationship at best but she loved him and he loved her. Until his alien past caught up with him and he pushed her away for her own protection. She hadn't really put up with it, but she had thought it was kind of romantic, noble almost. Then Courtney came along and suddenly his not wanting her didn't seem so noble. It suddenly seemed like he was pushing her away because he'd found someone more interesting. Now she couldn't stand the sight of him. She thought that's what Liz was going through but there was more to it. Maria had begun to notice that Max and Liz could barely be in the same room together. She watched as neither could look the other in the eye. She didn't know what happened between them but it had been big.   
  
"You know what," Liz said. "I have to get out of here. I'm feeling really bad."  
  
"Sure, I'll cover for you."  


*****

  
"Max are you OK?"  
  
Max wasn't OK, and he didn't think he ever would be. He would lay in bed at night   
and see Liz, cuddled up next to Kyle, laughing, naked. He would close his eyes and imagine Kyle going to her rooftop window, reminding her of the good times they'd had before Max had come along. Had she invited him in her bedroom as he reminded her how uncomplicated, unthreatened her life was before Max had fallen in love with her? Did she kiss him first? Did Kyle kiss her? He and Isabel, Tess and Michael would discuss their future, their enemies, their fate and he could do nothing but fixate on Kyle and Liz. Liz, Liz, Liz...  
  
Max looked up at Isabel and nodded.  
  
"You know, Maxwell, we're talking about our survival here. We only have so much time to devote to your decimated love life."  
  
Max's head shot up and he stared hard at Michael. Michael thought for a moment that the table between them was shaking.   
  
"Shut up," Max said in a very scary, very quiet tone. Then he stood up and marched out of the Crashdown.   
  
"Can't you cut him a break?" Tess asked as she got up and followed Max out.  
  
Michael wadded up the straw wrapper in his fingers and chucked it at Max's empty seat.  
  
"Something happened," Isabel said. "Did he tell you what?"  
  
"No, and you know what, I don't care. My love life isn't exactly the stuff of some Freddie Prinze, JR. movie but I can pull it together long enough to worry about what happens to us."  
  
"I know, but that's not the point. Max is hurting, worse then ever before. He's closed himself off, Michael, and we need to get him back. He's our leader and we have to bring him back to us or we could all go down with him."  


*****

  
Liz wasn't sure where she was going and she didn't care. Her only wish was that she didn't have to go back. She wished she was on her way to college--somewhere far away where she didn't have to see Max or Tess everyday of her life. Tess. She may have been his bride in some other world at some other time but she could never have loved him like Liz did. Maybe it was an arranged marriage. They did that here in some royal families. Maybe he never loved her even then. But that didn't matter, he had to be with her here. It was their only chance for survival. It would be better for Max if he fell in love with Tess, better that he loved her than be stuck in a loveless relationship for the sake of his people. Never mind that it would kill her to see him look at Tess even once the way he use to look at her. Tess, Tess, Tess...  
  
Liz wasn't sure, because she hadn't been paying attention to the road, if it had been her fault or his. All she knew was that there were headlights suddenly in front of her car and she was swerving hard to the right.   
  
She must have blacked out, which surprised her because she had been in much more dangerous situations, but the next thing she knew she was on the shoulder of the highway. She turned to see what happened to the other car and was horrified to see it had plunged into the flood channel along the side of the road. She jumped out of her car and ran over to it. It was nose down in the ditch, with only one of it's back tires visible from the highway. Fortunately the driver was already out of the car and he was busy digging something out of the trunk.  
  
"Oh my God, are you OK?" Liz asked.  
  
"Yeah," he replied, his head still buried in the trunk. "But I don't think Avis will ever rent me another car."  
  
He finished retrieving everything and began the climb up the embankment. Liz watched and all she could see at first was that he was wearing a suit and tie. The lights from the highway illuminated him as he got closer and she could see that he was pretty tall and lanky, he had brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. The resemblance of his expressive eyes to Max's caused her heart to constrict.   
  
"Are you OK?" He asked.  
  
Liz wished people would stop asking her that question.  
  
"Yeah, I'm so sorry, I--"  
  
He raised his hand to stop her.  
  
"My fault, I was looking at a map and I drifted into your lane." He smiled to himself.   
"You would think I'd know how to get there by now."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Roswell."  
  
"Oh, well I can take you there.. It's the least I can do."  
  
"But you're going in the other direction."  
  
Liz shrugged. "I would have to go back some time."  
  
As Liz climbed behind the wheel of her car she suddenly began to wonder about the wisdom of what she was doing. She had no idea who this guy was. Sure he seemed nice but for all she knew this was a scam to get into her car and do who knows what. He pulled open the passenger door and tossed the big pile of papers he had dug out of his trunk onto the seat between them. There was a large United States of America symbol on the top folder. Suddenly Liz felt terrified for an entirely different reason.  


*****

Michael glanced around the rooftop as he picked his way through lawn chairs, telescopes and other Parker family stuff. After the last near disaster he was pretty certain Liz wouldn't leave it laying around where anyone could find it but he looked around just the same. There was no sign of it so he went over to the window. He gave it a tug and it opened without any effort.   
  
*I see she didn't take my advice about changing the locks.*  
  
He looked around to make sure the coast was clear before he climbed in. He didn't know why he bothered. He knew Liz had bailed and that both her parents were downstairs at the Crashdown. Still, he had no desire to get caught.   
  
He looked around her room and wondered exactly where to start. He wasn't familiar with girls rooms, except the time he'd spent the night at Maria's. But he'd been so messed up he couldn't even remember what color her bedspread had been. He did remember that her hair had smelled like watermelon. It was wet, she'd just gotten out of the shower and her hair, and the rest of her, had smelled like watermelon. He only remembered because the shirt he'd been wearing had smelled like it later, after she'd spent the night pressed up against him. He shook the thought, and the warm sensation it sent through him, off and concentrated on his task.  
  
"It's bad enough that Max is distracted by women, one of us should at least be focused."  
  
He rummaged around in the drawers, under the bed, in the closet, but didn't find it. He knew Liz was smart, if she still had it she would have hidden it well. Then he realized that he was going about it the wrong way. He was doing it like a human. He closed his eyes and tried to find it another way. When he was looking for the lock that would fit the key that he had stolen from Valenti he had found it and not by luck. He had felt then that something was coursing through him. If he could do it again he would find what he was looking for now. He closed his eyes but he could still see the room. The colors faded and it looked veiled somehow. Everything was devoid of color except...  
  
Michael snapped open his eyes and went to the wall. He pushed at it but it was solid He kept pushing at different spots until one of the bricks shifted and fell back.   
  
Michael plunged his hand into the dark space and pulled out exactly what he was looking for--Liz's journal.  
  
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"  
  
The journal flipped out of his hands and he turned to find Maria, half in, half out of the window glaring at him.  


*****

  
"So you've been to Roswell before?"  
  
The guy in the suit nodded and grinned again--that funny little grin that was making Liz even more nervous.   
  
"Yeah, a couple of times."  
  
"What for?"  
  
"Business. I work for the FBI."  
  
Liz felt the blood rush out of her face. She glanced back down at the files between them.  
  
"Oh." She swallowed hard and tried to grasp one of the hundreds of questions that were swirling in her head. "So you're investigating Senator Whitaker's death?"  
  
He turned and looked at her strangely. Liz bit her lip. Wrong one to grasp.  
  
"No, why do you think that? It was my understanding that the senator died in a car accident."  
  
"Yeah," she laughed nervously and it sounded fake to her own ears. "It's just that not much happens in Roswell, her death was the only thing worth investigating."  
  
"That and the aliens."  
  
Liz's hand jumped and the car jerked. She hoped it was dark enough so that he couldn't see her hands trembling.   
  
"Sorry, I must still be nervous from the accident."  
  
He nodded and reached down to pick up some of the papers and files that slid down onto the ground. Liz chanced a look at the ones still on the seat and saw that the one now on top had her name on the tab.  
  
"Oh, God."  
  
The FBI agent popped his head up with concern.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Um, oh God, you--you're not another one of those people who believe in aliens are you? I mean, you're an FBI agent."  
  
"I believe in a lot of things."  
  
He put the fallen papers on the pile between them, burying her file.  
  
"So you really are here looking for aliens?"  
  
"I'm actually here looking for the Crashdown Cafe."  
  
Liz started laughing uncontrollably. That bizarre tune started playing in her head: *They're coming to take me away, haha, they're coming to take me away....*  
  
"Why? That place is such a tourist trap," she laughed, because she couldn't stop.  
  
The FBI agent grinned at her, obviously not noticing the note of hysteria in her laughter.   
  
"I hear they have great burgers."  
  
Then he leaned over and offered her his hand.  
  
"My name is Fox Mulder, by the way."  
  
She shook his hand.  
  
"Tess. I'm Tess," She stammered. "Tess is me."  
  
And that's when the back windshield exploded in a hail of gunfire.  



	2. The Jounal

Isabel Evans was having another nightmare

Isabel Evans was having another nightmare. They were surrounding her, four people she didn't know but whom she knew were Skins. Their faces were peeling and they were reaching for her like something out of a horror movie. But that wasn't what really scared her--it was what they were saying:  


"Vilandra, come back with us. We need you. He needs you. Betray your brother once more and return with us to your lover. He will protect you."  


"No," she shouted back. "I love my brother. I would never betray him!"  


"You did before. You knew it was what was right for your people."  


"My brother is what is right for my people."  


"He's not strong enough. He is weak. He will fail."  


"No!"  


*****

  
Isabel woke up screaming once more. She looked around her room in a panic. It was still early, she must have fallen asleep while she was studying. It was understandable considering that she barely got any sleep at all lately. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her legs. Her heart was thumping in her chest as she wondered if it had really been a dream or if the Skins had the same ability that she did--to 'walk' in people's dreams. When they couldn't reach her in this world maybe they began trying to reach her on the dream plane. 

  
How could she fight them when they wouldn't even leave her alone in her own mind? When Senator Whitaker had told her that she betrayed Max in their previous life to be with her love she hadn't believed her. Nothing and no one would make her betray Max. But the more assaults to her mind she took, the more she was beginning to believe.   


"I can't breathe!"  


She stood up and went to the window. It was suddenly so hot in her room. She yanked the window up and saw them--the four Skins from her dream, standing in her backyard.  
  
Liz Parker was crouched behind a boulder, staring at the remains of her car, wondering exactly how she was going to explain to her father how it got so many bullet holes in it. When she had gotten Maria's Jetta shot up Sheriff Valenti had gotten it fixed up before anyone could ask any questions. She supposed she could ask him to do the same for her, although she couldn't even explain to him how it happened because she wasn't certain why.  


"You're sure you aren't hurt?"  


Liz turned and looked at Agent Mulder. The moon was full and it illuminated the desert well.   


"Yeah, I---"  


Then she noticed the growing red stain on the shoulder of his jacket.  


"Oh my God, you've been shot."  


Mulder glanced at his shoulder and nodded.  


"Yeah, I noticed."  


Liz scrambled up behind him and began peeling off his jacket.   


"We need to get you to a doctor."  


"It's only a scrape. What we need to do is get out of here."  


Liz nodded in agreement and looked around.  


"Where is here," she asked as she returned her gaze to the wound on his shoulder. Agent Mulder had shoved her head down when the gunplay started. He'd grabbed the steering wheel and told her to keep her foot on the accelerator. She figured she'd break her neck if he hit anything but a bullet hole wasn't going to be good for her health either so she'd obeyed. He'd managed to get away from whoever had shot at them by pulling off the highway and going out into the desert but now she didn't know where they were.   
"I don't know but we have to keep moving."  


"Let me at least bandage this to keep it from bleeding." She pulled her apron off and began tearing it.  


"It's almost like you've done this before," Mulder observed.  


"Oh, I use to be a volunteer at a clinic."  


"A lot of bullet wounds at the Roswell clinic?"  


Liz smiled nervously at him. "Nothing this exciting."  


Mulder shifted uncomfortably as she began to wrap up his shoulder. "I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of this."  


Liz gave a start.  


"They were shooting at you?"  


"Did you think they were shooting at you?"  


Liz laughed that demented, uncontrollably laugh again.  


"No, I--I just assumed it was some sort of drive by, or something. After all, who would shoot at us on purpose?"  


"If you had a piece of paper I could make you a list."  


Liz considered that with a bit of relief. She'd been wondering who was trying to kill her now. The Skins wouldn't be using guns and the Special Unit had been disbanded. If they'd been shooting at Agent Mulder then that was good--good in the way that she wasn't the primary target anyway.   


Mulder glanced up at his teenage companion and considered her. She seemed eerily calm for someone who had almost gotten her head blown off. It almost seemed like it wasn't that big of a deal to her.  


"How does that feel," she asked when she finished wrapping his shoulder. He moved it a little and grimaced.  


"Like I've been shot," he replied. He stood up carefully. "But it's not like it's the first time. Come on."  


****

  
"I asked what the hell are you doing," Maria said in an angry whisper.   


Michael picked up Liz's journal and looked around nervously.  


"I'm looking for Liz," he lied.  


"Bull." She stomped over to him. "What's that?"  


Michael shoved it behind his back but not before she caught a glimpse of it.   


Maria stopped cold.  


"Oh, do not tell me that is what I think it is."  


"It's none of your business, that's what it is," he said, pushing past her and climbing out the window onto the roof. Maria scrambled after him.   


"Do you think that you can just break into my best friend's room, steal her most personal possession and I'd let you get away with it?"  


Michael turned on her. "I'm not stealing it, I'm borrowing it."  


"Borrowing it?"  


"Something went down between Max and Liz and whatever it was has thrown Max for a loop. I need to know what it was."  


"So you can't ask her? You have to resort to petty theft? Do you know how hideous this is? A girl's journal is where she puts her most private, most personal thoughts and feelings. Things she wouldn't admit to anyone else in the world, not even her best friend. Leave it to you to be caveman enough to paw through it."  


"Hey, she didn't mind all that much the last time!" The moment the words left his mouth he wanted to snatch them out of the air.   


Maria's eyes got so big he thought for a moment they'd pop out and roll around on the ground. Her mouth moved up and down but the words seemed to be stuck in her throat. Finally, she shoved him so hard he fell backwards onto a lawn chair. The journal flew open on his lap.   


"It was you?!"  


Michael cringed.   


"You stole her journal the last time? She told me some friend returned it. Oh you are slime!" Maria reached over and snatched the journal away from him.   


"If you'd done that to me I would have kicked your---" She glanced down at the open book in her hands and gasped.  


"What?" Michael was on his feet instantly.  


Maria slammed the book shut.   


"Nothing."  


"Like hell." He reached for the journal but Maria backed away from him, holding it above her head, even as she scrambled up on a folding chair. "What did it say?"  


"Nothing," she repeated but it wasn't nothing. It was another galaxy away from nothing. "I just caught a glimpse of something about Kyle and how she--slept with him."  


Michael's jaw fell open.  


"No way."  


"I'm sure it was out of context."  


Michael grabbed the journal out of Maria's hand and opened it.  


"No! This is wrong."  


"Then don't read it," he said. He turned his back on her and started to read. A second later he felt Maria peering over his shoulder.   
  
_I have never felt so horrible in my life. And even though I know I did it for all the right reasons I still feel so ashamed. Max Evans, the love of my life, will go through the rest of his life thinking I betrayed him with my soul and my body._

  
When FM (I'll call him FM to avoid confusion) showed up on my rooftop he terrified me but even then I didn't realize to what degree he would end up destroying my life.  


How he got there I'll theorize about later, all I'll say now is that he convinced me who he was with the mariachi's and roses. Then he told me if I didn't break if off with Max for good it could lead to the end of the world--literally. He wouldn't give me details but he convinced me what he was saying was true.  


So I tried everything--I coached Tess on how to attract Max and I even begged him to let me go but nothing worked. I think because I didn't want it to. But FM kept telling me about our future together--some of it sounded wonderful--even the wedding at the Elvis Chapel. I never imagined myself getting married like that but he made it sound so incredible.  


But after he told me what would happen to Isabel and Michael if I didn't do what he asked I was convinced. When Maria, with tears in her eyes, told me how she felt when she found Michael with Courtney together I realized what I could do. So I went to Kyle. I didn't know if he'd agree but he did. He told me he'd found Buddha so maybe that had something to do with it. We went back to my bedroom and Kyle got undressed while I was in the bathroom with FM. He didn't approve of my plan--I think he was a little jealous. I had to ask him to look away when I finally got undressed—he thought nothing of it, I guess because he had probably seen me without my clothes a hundred times.  
Wrapped in a towel, I went out to find Kyle waiting. I clarified the rules once more just in case--nothing was really going to happen between us, it was all a show. Then we crawled into bed together and the whole thing was pretty awkward at first but Kyle put me at ease so I was actually laughing when Max finally came.  


Kyle saw him first because I could see it on his face. I looked at the window and Max was there. His face---oh God, it was awful. He had the Gomez tickets in his hand, and he was just standing there, so still. He finally turned and ran and if I hadn't been naked and if Kyle hadn't been there I would have ran after him. I would have babbled that I had staged the whole thing, I would have kissed him, I would have done anything to take that look off his face. Anything. But Kyle was there and I have to live the rest of my life with that memory.  


Kyle left after that and I got dressed. FM stayed with me a little longer. He tried to make me feel better and so I asked him to dance. I told him I wanted my wedding dance and he smiled--that wonderful little boy smile that I'll probably never see again.  


We danced on the rooftop outside my window, me and the thirty year old man  
from my future, and in those few minutes I was truly happy. And then he was gone and I was alone for what I think may be forever.   
  
Michael closed the book and looked over his shoulder at Maria. She had a hand clapped over her mouth and tears were streaming over it.  



	3. I want to believe

Liz and Mulder were crossing the desert in silence

Liz and Mulder were crossing the desert in silence. Liz had a hundred questions that she wanted to ask but she was terrified of giving herself away.   


__

He can't possibly know who I am, she reasoned. _He only had a file with your name on it in his car_, another voice countered.

  
"Tess?"  


Liz looked up suddenly. How long had he been speaking to her?  


"Oh, I'm sorry. I was somewhere else."  


He grinned at her. "Anywhere has got to be better then here."  


She smiled. He seemed so nice, but then again so did Agent Pearce at first.  


"Yeah, so, um, do you think the people that were shooting at you didn't want you to make it to Roswell?"  


"Possibly. People tend to shoot at me wherever I go. I have even worse luck in deserts."  


"Then maybe I shouldn't be hanging around with you."  


"Probably not."  


"Exactly why were you going there?"  


"I received a report from someone about an alien healing a waitress after a shooting."  


"That was more then a year ago," she blurted before she could stop herself. "It was all over the news. The shooting I mean."  


"Well, the source wasn't exactly reliable, but I've noticed increased activity in this area since then so I decided to check it out. All my files were in the car, I hadn't had time to review them before your car got Swiss cheesed."  


Liz let out a sigh of relief. So he really didn't know who she was.  


"I didn't think the FBI really looked into stuff like that," she said carefully.  


"From the size of my office you might say that they don't."  


"But you don't really believe that stuff do you? I mean, the possibility that there are other creatures in the universe, not only as complex as the human being but more so, who have technology to traverse space--it seems scientifically implausible."  


Agent Mulder turned and looked at her strangely.  


"What?"  


"You don't look like Scully but I could swear you just channeled her."  


"Scully?"  


"My partner."  


"Oh."  


They marched on. Liz looked around and thought things were looking more familiar.  


"So, you didn't answer my question," she persisted.  


"Do I believe in aliens?"  


"Yes."  


"I want to believe," he replied.  


"But why? I mean, it's not just because it's your job, is it?"  


"No. I want to know because of Samantha." When she didn't ask the follow up question he turned and looked at her. She had a raised eyebrow like the question should have been obvious. "She's my sister. She was abducted when I was young."  


She didn't say anything after that and they walked a little further until he decided to rest for a minute. He sat down on a rock and pulled his cell phone out again. There was still no service.  


"You must hate them then."  


He looked up at Tess, startled by the question. He just assumed she got quiet because she was mulling over the possibility that she was under the protection of a lunatic. Mulder was use to the assumption so he wasn't really offended by it anymore. The people that knew him, knew better.  


"I thought you didn't believe in aliens."  


She shrugged but he thought she looked upset.  


"Say I do. What would you do if you ever found one?"  


"What would I do?" It wasn't a question he was asked very often. Most people just dismissed him immediately. It wasn't a question he asked himself very often.  


"Are there really secret labs where they do alien autopsies," she made a strange sound when she said the word autopsies. "Would you do experiments and things like they do in movies?"  


Mulder studied her for a moment. She looked very calm but she was staring at him with unnerving intensity. That's why he considered his answer and found himself telling her the truth.  


"I believe that there are places like that, yes. There are branches of the government that know more about aliens then I do and that they may have done 'experiments', but they're not who I work for. They're not why I look. If I found an alien, I would want to know what happened to my sister. Dissecting one wouldn't do me much good."  


She nodded and seemed to think hard on the subject.  


"Why--," he began when they heard a scream.  


*****  


"I don't get it," Michael said.  


"Which part?" Maria asked.  


"All of it."  


They were sitting in a booth at the Crashdown, totally ignoring the malts in front of them. Michael was even ignoring Courtney who was batting her eyes at him with all the subtlety of a vampire bat.   


"Who," he continued, "is this FM guy? And what did he do to Liz to convince her to turn on Max?"  


"You read what I did, he threatened you and Isabel."  


"Then why was she so gone on him? She talked about marrying him!"  


"She also talked about how much she loved Max."  


"See that's it--it makes no sense. And why did she get Kyle to fake that whole thing when she had this Don Juan she could have done the real thing with?"  


"You're assuming a lot. She's obviously not sleeping with FM, whoever he is. Not everyone has his mind in the same gutter as you."  


"So you're defending the old guy that seduced your best friend into betraying my best friend?"  


"She didn't betray him, that was the point. At least I think so. I don't know. Maybe we should ask Liz about it. That's a conversation I want to have: Hey girlfriend, I did the creepiest thing I could think of by going into your private journal but I'm puzzled by what I read, can you clarify?"  


"We don't go to Liz, we go to Max."  


"Max? The only thing that was clear in her journal is that she didn't want Max to know!"  


"Know what?"  


They looked up and sure enough there was Max.  


*****

  
Isabel was standing in her backyard clutching a baseball bat.  


__

Oh sure, this will be effective, she thought.  


"I know you're out here," she shouted. "I want you to leave me alone! I don't know what you think I did in the past but it's not going to happen again. Do you hear me?!"  


She whirled around. In the dark every object took on a sinister shape.  


"Do you hear me?!"  


"I hear you, my love."  


She whirled around but there was no one there. She felt like a wild animal, surrounded by predators. She knew she'd bite anything that came near her.  


"But I know better," the voice continued. It was a deep, thrilling voice. It made her skin tingle just to hear it. "We are destined to be together."  


"No!"  


"Soon, my darling. Soon."  


And that's when she felt the hand on her arm and she swung around, bat first.  



	4. FM

"I don't get it," Michael said

Isabel was aiming for his head and, fortunately, she missed. Alex fell to his knees, clutching his arm.  
  
"Oh God Alex!"  
  
She let go of the bat and fell to her knees beside him.  
  
"Alex, are you all right?"  
  
Alex shook his head. "If you wanted to get rid of me that bad, Iz, you didn't have to start wielding weapons. I can take a hint."  
  
Isabel smiled a little at that.  
  
"No, Alex, you really can't. But that's not what this is about."  
  
"What is it about," he asked as she helped him back to his feet.  
  
Isabel glanced around the yard. It was still empty.  
  
"I thought I heard something. No one else is home so I thought I should check it out." She put her arm around him and she helped him inside. "Come on in. I'll nurse you back to health."  


He looked at her eagerly.  
  
"Do--do you have one of those nurse's uniforms?"  
  
*****  


"Maxwell?"  
  
Max heard Michael's voice but it seemed very far away. He had spent the last few days feeling his soul dying. It was a strange feeling to have a living body and nothing inside of it but that's how it had felt. Now, after listening to what Maria and Michael had found in Liz's journal he felt an odd warmth seeping back in. It was hope.  
  
"Max, what should we do?" Maria asked.  
  
Max looked at her.  
  
"We find out the truth."  
  
*****  
  
When they heard the scream, Mulder shoved Liz behind him and drew his gun. It was pointed at the bush where the sound had come from when a young man popped his head up from behind it.  
  
"Hey, do you mind..." His voice trailed off when he saw that he was looking down the barrel of a revolver.  
  
"Eddie!"  
  
Liz brushed passed Mulder and let out a big sigh of relief. "Eddie, what are you doing out here?"  
  
Her question was answered when a young woman stood up beside him, pulling a sweater over her shoulders.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Well, that explains the scream," Mulder assessed as he reholstered his weapon.  
  
*****  
  
Kyle Valenti had a love/hate relationship with Max Evans. He hated Max for stealing Liz away from him, he hated him for sometimes being more important to his dad then he was, he even hated him for being some great leader. Love was probably too strong a word but the guy had saved his life which, strangely, was another reason he hated him. But right at this moment, with Max pinning him against the wall, he was definitely leaning toward the negative.  
  
He had been pumping some weights, minding his own business, when the doorbell rang. He opened the door and Max had plowed in, pushing him up against the opposite wall, jabbing his arm against his throat.  
  
"Why did you do it, Kyle," Max shouted.  
  
"You mean, Liz? I suppose I should have seen this coming, but I thought you were this man of peace, Luke Skywaker."  
  
Max hit the wall next to Kyle's head and Kyle could almost swear that the whole house shook.  
  
"I know you didn't sleep with her, why did you pretend that you did?"  
  
Kyle's brows dipped in confusion. He looked over at Maria who, with Michael, or 'Evans' right hand thug' as Kyle liked to think of his as, had come in after Max.  
  
"It was in her journal, so don't bother denying it,' she confirmed.  
  
"You read her journal? That is low."  
  
"Why did you do it?" Max asked again.  
  
"Because she asked me to!"  
  
Max was pressing so hard against his throat that the edges of Kyle's vision were getting dark. But he wouldn't give antennae boy the satisfaction of knowing that. Besides, if Max killed him he could always bring him back. That had been fun. But Max let go of him and he reflexively reached for his throat.  
  
"Did she tell you why?"  
  
Kyle took a minute to clear his head.  
  
"She wouldn't tell me," he said.  
  
"Who is FM?"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"FM, the guy that was in the bathroom."  
  
"There was no one in the bathroom! That would have been disturbed."  
  
"No more so then you and Liz together.," Michael snorted.  
  
"Watch it, space boy or I'll---"  
  
"What, hit me with a dumbbell?"  
  
"Hey!" Maria jumped between them. "The testosterone in this room is --well, it's kind   
of sexy, but it doesn't help Liz any."  
  
It was right then that Sheriff Valenti walked in.  
  
"Hi kids," he said, glancing at them in turn. "It's nice to see you getting along."  
  
*****  
  
"You know Liz, you seem to keep the strangest company."  
  
Liz looked away from Mulder, who was being bandaged by Riverdog and she glanced at Eddie. They were in Riverdog's living room, which seemed oddly suburban.   


Except, of course, for the large painting of a five planet star system on the wall.  
  
"Aliens, and now a wounded FBI agent? Did you ever think of publishing your memoirs?"  
  
Liz grinned slightly.  
  
"Who would believe it?"  
  
"Good point."  
  
Then she stopped smiling and turned serious.  
  
"Just don't call me Liz, OK? I don't want him to know my real name."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You'll just have to read about it on the bestseller's list." She turned to Mulder again.   
  
"Listen, I'm going to call a friend of mine so she can cover for me with my parents, OK?"  
  
Mulder nodded and Liz pulled out her cell phone.  
  
*****  
  
Maria almost didn't hear her phone ring. The noise level with all the men in the room arguing almost drown it out. But she did hear it eventually and she answered it with annoyance.  
  
"Mom, if this is about that ding in the car it will just have to wait--Liz!"  
  
Suddenly the room went silent.  
  
"Liz, where are you?"  
  
"Let me talk to her," Max pleaded. Maria put up a hand to shut him up.  
  
Liz sent a silent thank you to Riverdog and Eddie as they left the room. Riverdog looked concerned so she smiled at him reassuringly. Then she turned her attention back to the phone.  
  
"Listen, Maria, I need you to cover for me all right? I called my Mom and told her that I was at your house. I told her I was spending the night."  
  
"What? I mean, no Liz, no. You need to come home right now. Something really big is happening here."  
  
"Maria, I'm sorry but--"  
  
Mulder gestured to her from the window--he was frowning. Liz all but forgot about the phone in her hand and she went to peer through the blinds.  
  
"Liz?"  
  
Max reached over and grabbed the phone from Maria.  
  
"Liz, where are you?"  
  
Liz looked through the blinds and she felt goosebumps spike all over her skin. There were two men in suits approaching the house. Liz had a flash to when they'd rescued Max from the Special Unit--she had kissed Max and she'd seen everything he'd gone through--and everyone that had done those horrific things to him. Including the two men walking toward their hiding place.  
  
"Oh God," she whispered.  
  
"Liz?!" Max shouted, but the phone had sunk away from her ear.  
  
"Come on," a male voice said. "We need to find someplace more private, wouldn't you agree?"  
  
"Liz, who is that?!" Max shouted again.  
  
Liz continued to stare at the men approaching. The images of Max being tortured, being brutalized, kept running through her head. She didn't hear the door open or Riverdog in the doorway.  
  
"Agent Mulder--" he began but Mulder nodded and cut him off.  
  
"We see them." He turned to Liz. "Tess, let's go!"  
  
That woke Liz up and she remembered the phone in her hand. "Maria, I have to go."  
  
"Liz, don't--" Max begged, but the line went dead. "Damn it!"  
  
*****  
  
Mulder took Liz's hand and pulled her along after Riverdog. They went out the back door and cut across the yard.  
  
"You can borrow by nephew's car, " Riverdog was saying as he led them to a beat up Volkswagen and handed Mulder the keys. "I'll distract them for as long as I can."  
  
"Thanks." Mulder said and he climbed into the front seat. Liz didn't hesitate to climb in next to him.  
  
*****  
  
"She didn't tell you where she was?" Maria asked.  
  
"No, and she was with him--I heard his voice. What did she say to you, Maria?"  
  
"She just wanted me to cover for her with her Mom. She said she was going to be out all---that is, for some time--she never got specific really."  
  
"Nice save," Michael muttered.  
  
"Can anyone tell me what's going on?" Valenti asked.  
  
"I heard his name, I think." Max continued, having not heard the sheriff at all. He tried to think back and finally came up with it. "Mulder, I think."  
  
"Mulder?" Valenti rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Now that's not a name I'd ever thought I'd hear again."  
  
"You know him?" Michael asked.  
  
Valenti turned and pulled open a hall closet.  
  
"It can't be the same one," he said from the closet. He emerged a moment later with a dusty photo album.  
  
"Oh please, not the photo album," Kyle mumbled. But his dad ignored him and opened up the dusty tome. "My dad knew a guy named Mulder. I don't remember the dad's first name but his son had some funny name. Bear, Squirrel...."  
  
The four teenagers gathered around him and looked at the photo he was pointing at. It was two men decked out in fishing gear along with two younger boys, similarly dressed. Valenti passed it over to Max. Then he pointed to the older of the two boys.  
  
"We all went fishing once, that's me." Then he pointed to the younger boy.  
  
"That's Mulder's son, he was about ten years younger then me. Strange kid."  


He got a thoughtful look on his face. "Fox! That was his name. Never got the story behind it."  
  
Max stared at the photo. "Fox Mulder. FM."  
  
  
  



	5. The Alien

"So do you want to tell me why those guys are chasing you, Liz

"So do you want to tell me why those guys are chasing you, Liz?"  
  
The desert was speeding by them at a fast pace and Liz had been staring out into it trying to think of an answer to the question she knew was coming.  
  
The question he had just asked.  
  
"What do you--" then she nearly choked. It took her a second to catch her breath. "You called me Liz."  
  
"And you answered to it. Which is a good thing because you completely ignored me every time I called you Tess."  
  
Liz started laughing again. He let her go uninterrupted for a full two minutes. Finally she got herself under control, looked at him and shook her head.  
  
"I thought you said you hadn't read any of the files in your car."  
  
"I hadn't. But you weren't answering to Tess, you seemed to know a lot about the shooting at the Crashdown, and whoever you were talking to on the phone kept shouting for Liz."  
  
"Oh." Liz nodded rather calmly all the while her mind was racing with what she was going to tell him next. He had spent the whole night protecting her, he seemed very nice, and yet she couldn't trust him with the truth. She wouldn't risk Max's life if her judgment was flawed.  
  
"So you're Liz Parker--the waitress that was shot at the Crashdown."  
  
She nodded without thinking. She turned a startled look at Mulder and saw that he had been watching her response. She could have babbled "Uh, no" but she knew he wouldn't believe it. She had a feeling he wasn't going to buy the story of the ketchup and the stray bullet anyway.  
  
_You have to protect Max! _Her mind screamed because nothing was more important to her than that. Not even her own safety.  
  
"What really happened that day at the Crashdown, Liz?"  
  
Liz took a deep breath and she turned in her seat and faced him.  
  
"I healed myself," she said with as much conviction as she could muster.  
  
"Because I'm an alien."  
  
*****

  
Maria was looking down at the photo of Fox Mulder as a child.  
  
"She said he had little boy eyes. This guy's got those in spades," she declared.  
  
"You really think Fox Mulder is involved with Liz in some way?" Sheriff Valenti asked.  
  
"Yes," Max said. "What do you know about him?"  
  
The sheriff shrugged. "I didn't know him very well. Like I said, his dad and my dad were friends--sort of."  
  
"Sort of?" Kyle asked.  
  
"I don't know. I always got the impression that his dad was always--I don't know--quizzing my dad or something."  
  
"About what?" Michael asked.  
  
"Aliens."  
  
Everyone went silent.  
  
"What did his dad do?" Maria asked.  
  
"He worked for the government," Valenti said slowly. "I think Fox became--"  


The teenagers looked at him expectantly.  
  
"He became an FBI agent."  
  
Max swore under his breath, Michael swore something more profane, much more loudly.  
  
"Do you think Liz knows he's an FBI agent?" Kyle asked.  
  
"I don't know," Maria replied. "But maybe. Maybe that's why she went along with his plan--to protect Max and you guys."  
  
"Maybe," Max mumbled.  
  
He was just starting to feel that his world was making sense again. When he thought Liz and Kyle had slept together it had shattered all of his beliefs. But Liz doing it to protect him--that made sense.  
  
No on mentioned the parts of the journal that indicated that Liz had feelings for "FM". Michael and Maria had been vague in describing those parts to Max.  
  
"We need to find Liz," Max declared. "Now."  
  
*****

  
Isabel thought she was going to lose her mind. She tried to grab onto a rational thought but none were forthcoming.  
  
_This has got to stop,_ her mind told her. But her body refused to listen.  
  
"Alex," she whispered. "Stop."  
  
"OK," he whispered back but he didn't stop.  
  
He was nibbling on her neck and his hands--where were his hands?! She pushed him away gently. "Alex, we can't do this," she said, and she backed away from him. Her heart was racing and her hands were sweating. Who would  
ever imagine that Alex Whitman would be able to do that to a girl? "Alex, we decided to just be friends."  
  
"You decided that. I never go a vote."  
  
She stood up and started primping her hair. She didn't have a mirror nearby but she was sure that it was a mess.  
  
"It's for the best. It's safer for--"  
  
"For me, Maria, Liz. Yeah, we've all heard the alien party line. But whether we're involved as friends or romantically involved we're in the same amount of danger. We already know what you are, you can't take that  
knowledge back."  
  
Isabel bit her bottom lip. That made a certain amount of sense. She, Michael, and Max had known being involved with humans would only endanger them but Maria, Liz, and Alex all knew they were aliens. Simply by knowing  
put them in jeopardy. Agent Pearce had proven that to them. And those who knew their secret, even when they weren't romantically involved with them, hadn't simply gone away. They hadn't walked away and led a safe life—they were all still there, putting their lives in danger. So why was she pushing Alex away? Who better to love than someone who already knew her secret?  


Alex walked up behind her and put his arms around her.  
  
"It's not me you're afraid for Iz. It's you."  
  
Isabel opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the sound of the front door. She and Alex leaped apart. Alex looked around the room for any evidence of their nonviolent wrestling and Isabel started straightening  
her clothes and hair again.   


"You should go," Isabel whispered to him. He nodded. They both knew her mother wasn't so keen on him since he did that strip tease for her on her birthday.  
  
She led him to the backdoor but he stopped before going out.  
  
"Go to the dance with me tomorrow," he asked.  
  
"Max. Isabel." Her mom called.  
  
"Dance?" There was a time when Isabel Evans thought of nothing else but social engagements. Now she was completely unaware of one going on.   
  
"No. But if I see you there, I might dance with you. Maybe."  
  
He smiled and gave her a quick kiss before he slipped out.  
  
*****

  
"You're an alien," Mulder said evenly.  
  
Liz nodded and studied his face. She couldn't tell if he believed it or not. He had just proven to her that she was a terrible liar, how she was going to pull this off she didn't know. But she had to. If it meant protecting Max, she had to.  
  
"I can regenerate. This body is really just a shell." She struggled to remember what Courtney had told Michael about her race. "A husk. I shed every few days. When I was shot, I just sped up the process and healed the  
bullet wound."  
  
She knew half of what she said was false--the Skins shed every few hours, not days, and she had no idea what their regeneration skills were but she had to leave Max's part out of it so she just mixed a few details. If she  
said she shed hourly than he'd expect her to do it any time now and by claiming it was part of her physiology than he wouldn't ask her why she didn't try and heal him. She hoped to God she could continue to juggle all the facts.  
  
"So you're an alien that works as a waitress at a cafe in Roswell," Mulder said slowly.  
  
"Yeah," she replied. _I sound so lame! _ "I was in the crash of 1947 but my pod didn't open until about eleven years ago. When I came out I looked like a six year old. Some people found me wandering in the desert. They adopted me and I've been living as a human ever since."  
  
Mulder just nodded thoughtfully.  
  
"I don't know why I was sent here, or by who. I don't know what happened to your sister."  
  
"And the guys chasing you?"  
  
"They work for a special unit of the government. They want to--" She got a flash of Max screaming, probes strapped to his head. "They want to do tests."  
  
Before she could finish the thought, the back windshield exploded.

  
Liz let out a scream, covered her head, and leaned down in her seat. Mulder was trying to gain control of the car.  
  
"You know what these guys lack," he shouted.  
  
"Creativity?"  
  
Mulder nodded.  
  
"Why don't they just shoot out the tires?"  
  
And as if they heard her, both tires burst. They started a skid that Mulder tried to control. They left tracks for about half a mile and before the car stopped completely Mulder had pushed open his door and indicated to Liz to do the same. They went around the front of the car and Mulder grabbed her hand and pulled her along as a set of headlights pierced their backs. Liz remembered a similar night, not so long ago, only now Max wasn't there to  
protect her.  
  
She heard gunfire and she even thought she felt a bullet whiz by her but she couldn't be sure. Then the world seemed to encompass only her and Agent Mulder. She felt his hand gripping hers, she heard her own breathing  
escaping her mouth in wheezing gasps, she could feel cold perspiration trickling in a thin line down her back. She knew that she was going to die and she had only one thought.  
  
"Max"  
  
*****

  
Max jolted upright on the lawn chair. He had spent most of the night looking for Liz. He had looked everywhere he thought she could be, and then he had a horrifying thought. What if she wasn't coming back? He had scrambled to her bedroom and in through her window. He looked around and couldn't find any evidence that she wasn't coming back. Her small duffel bag was at the bottom of her closet, her favorite stuffed animal that she had since she was little was still on her dresser. He even ventured into her bathroom and gave a quick glance over anything he thought might be a necessity for a trip. Feeling overwhelmed, he went back in to her bedroom and sat down on the bed. He could smell her--that really light perfume she wore, the shampoo she used. God how he'd missed it. He didn't know why, maybe to exorcise the demons that the bed held for him since he saw her and Kyle in it, he reached over and grabbed her pillow. When he slipped his hand under it he felt something like paper and he pulled it out. It was a  
strip of photos that he and Liz had taken at one of those cheesy photo booths. He felt his heart squeeze in his chest. She had never given up on him, even when she was forced to.  
  
Deciding not to give up on her, he sat on one of the lawn chairs outside her window and waited. He must have fallen asleep because he woke in the moonlit night, his heart racing.  
  
"Liz," he mumbled, still half in his dreams. Then he looked in his hand and saw that he had crushed the photo strip still in his palm. He stared at the rumpled pictures and he felt a numbing fear. What if Liz couldn't come home?  
  
*****

  
Mulder pulled Liz behind a large rock formation and drew his gun. Suddenly the world became large all around her again.  
  
"Do you really think you can hold them off?" She looked desperately at the agent who's shoulder had begun to bleed again and when he turned to her and smiled she knew he was going to lie.  
  
"Sure. I'm going to open fire and then I want you to run that way."  
  
He pointed off into the darkness and she realized that he was going to die for her. He was going to try and fend off two armed men while she made a break for it. He was going to be another person whose life was in mortal jeopardy because he had tried to save her life. She still blamed herself for the turmoil Max, Isabel and Michael's lives were in now because Max wouldn't let her die that day in the Crashdown. She couldn't let it happen again.  
  
"I have a better plan," she said, mostly to herself.  
  
Mulder turned around to say: "What?" and saw her just as she stood up and walked around the boulder.  
  
"Liz!" He dived for her ankle but she was out of his reach.  
  
  
  
  



	6. 

Liz walked out into the blinding lights of the car

Liz walked out into the blinding lights of the car. If she didn't know what had been chasing her she might have thought she was being abducted. In a way, she supposed she was. Only she was going to be abducted _from _the aliens.  
  
It was funny how her life worked.  
  
"I'm Liz Parker!" She had been shielding her eyes from the glare but she put both hands down at her side so they could see. "I know you know who I am. I'll go with you."  
  
Slowly the two men from the Special Unit came out from behind their car and approached her, guns drawn. One had their gun aimed at Liz while the other was looking around for Mulder. He seemed to be in charge and he moved strangely but she couldn't put her finger on why.  
  
"Let's just go," she begged.  
  
"Where's your friend?"  
  
"He's not my friend," she said. "I just met him. He has nothing to do with this. Let's just go. You don't want him. You want me."  
  
"You're right, you were the one we were after but Agent Mulder will be a nice bonus," said the agent who was still carefully maneuvering toward the boulder Liz had stepped out from behind. "He's been a thorn in the side of our superiors for a number of years now." He smirked. "Who am I kidding? My superiors will only get the pieces of what's left of him."  
  
Liz followed the agent with her eyes, afraid to move. The headlights of the car were still blinding her and it made the surrounding area seem that much blacker.  
  
"I don't know who you're talking about," she pleaded and her voice cracked. The Special Unit agent ignored her and went around the rock. Liz stiffened and then the agent swore and stomped out from behind the rock.  
  
"He's not there," he told his partner. Liz let out a loud sigh. "Come on, let's get her out of here."  
  
He walked over to Liz and was about to grab her arm when the car's engine suddenly roared to life. Liz, still facing the car, saw it first and she dived out of the way. The two agents weren't so lucky. One flew over the hood and bounced off the windshield and the other got his leg clipped and went spiraling into the dark.  
  
Liz picked herself up out of the dirt and to her horror found an arm lying in front of her. She skittered away from it as fast as she could and backed into someone. She screamed when they reached down and yanked her to her feet. It was Mulder. The car was a few feet away, the engine still running. She turned and looked back at the arm. Mulder walked over to it and kicked it. It gave a metallic thunk. Liz creeped closer and saw that it was a prosthesis.  
  
"Krycek," Mulder muttered, staring out into the darkness.  
  
"Who?" Liz whispered.  
  
Mulder turned to her and grabbed her hand.  
  
"Come on," and he led her back to the car.  
  
* * * *  
Max knocked on Valenti's door and was startled by how quickly it popped open. It was Michael and he looked grim.  
  
"It's worse then we thought," he said and let Max in.  
  
"Why? Did you find Liz?" He turned to Maria who shook her head. "Then what is it?"  
  
Michael gestured to Kyle who was sitting at his computer. The sheriff was standing next to him. Max walked over to it.  
  
"I have a friend in the defense department," Sheriff Valenti said, "I asked him to send me whatever he had on Fox Mulder."  
  
Max looked at the profile on the computer screen. There was a more recent photo of agent Mulder--dark hair, dark eyes, just as Liz described him in her journal. Next to the photo was a description of the agent. The more Max read, the more his gag reflex began to itch in his throat. Fox Mulder's sister had been abducted by aliens, he was in charge of a division of the FBI called the X-Files, a division devoted to investigating supernatural phenomenon, his psychological profile claimed he was obsessed with finding alien life at any cost.  
  
At any cost.  
  
* * * *  
Liz watched Agent Mulder try and dial his phone while he drove.  
  
"Who are you calling," she asked.  
  
"Local law enforcement. I'm going to send them out there to collect those agents. I'm afraid they'll be gone by the time I get back there. Krycek has a tendency to disappear when you take your eyes off of him."  
  
"Ask for Sheriff Valenti," Liz said.  
  
"Sheriff Valenti? Not Jim Valenti."  
  
Liz nodded.  
  
"That guy's got to be a fossil by now."  
  
"Oh, no, his dad use to be sheriff, now it's his son. You know him?"  
  
"Jimmy Valenti? Yeah, I did a long time ago, weird kid."  
  
Liz was thinking fervently while Agent Mulder was on the phone with the sheriff's office. Wherever he was taking her was going to lead to her downfall. A simple blood test was going to prove that she wasn't an alien and then what? She had to devise a defense quickly. She could claim insanity or she could deny ever having said anything. He hung up before she could come up with an excuse.  
  
"What happens now?" She asked.  
  
"Valenti's office said they'd have him meet me at the spot where we left Krycek. I'll get back there as soon as I drop you off."   
  
"Drop me off?" She didn't know what he had planned for her but she trusted Agent Mulder. He had saved her life repeatedly. She didn't want him passing her off to someone else who she didn't know.   
  
"Yeah, this is the place isn't it?"  
  
She turned and looked out the window as they pulled in front of the Crashdown. She couldn't ever remember being so relieved to see that glowing spaceship in her life. She turned back to Mulder.  
  
"You're letting me go?"  
  
"You said you didn't know anything about where you came from or why. Quite frankly you're pretty useless to me."  
  
Liz let out a squeal and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered.  
  
When she pulled away from him he handed her one of his cards.  
  
"If you ever need anything--or want to talk to me about what you do know, you can trust me."  
  
Liz looked down at the card and nodded. She climbed out of his car but before closing the door she leaned back in and smiled at him.  
  
"And if you're ever back in town come by," she gestured with her head to the cafe. "We have great burgers."  
  
He smiled at her.  
  
"I will."  
  
He pulled away and she felt a little sad as she watched him go. She walked around back and climbed up to her room. She wanted to call Maria and tell her all about her adventure but as soon as she sat down on her bed she realized how tired she was. Light was just starting to filter into her room as dawn broke and she curled up with her pillow.  
  
"Everybody's still asleep anyway," she mumbled to herself. And as she drifted off to sleep she imagined that she could smell Max's cologne on her pillow. For some reason it didn't make her sad.  
  
* * * *  
"At some point I'm going to need some sleep," Maria declared. She walked over to the couch in Michael's apartment and collapsed. Michael went over to his refrigerator and rummaged through it.  
  
"Go ahead and crash there if you want."  
  
With her face mashed into the upholstery she moaned.  
  
"I can't," she said, her voice muffled by the cushion. "I have to go home and see if Liz called. Not to mention I have to get back home before my mom realizes that I haven't been there all night. I'll have a hard time finding Liz if I'm chained up in the basement. Not to mention--" She shot up suddenly. "The dance."  
  
Michael went over to her, holding a soda.  
  
"What dance?"  
  
"The school dance. Alex and I and the band are supposed to perform at the stupid dance. We're going to have to cancel."  
  
"No," Michael said firmly.  
  
"No? You want me to perform showtunes for the sweater set while my best friend is missing?"  
  
"Yeah, I think it's a good idea. We can't start disrupting our routine and acting all suspicious if some FBI agent is lurking around." Maria started to shake her head so Michael added: "Besides, I haven't seen you perform in a while."  
  
"You were planning on coming?"  
  
He shrugged.  
  
"I'll stop in. I'll probably spend most of the night looking for Liz if she hasn't turned up but yeah, I'll be there."  
  
He took a swig of his soda so he didn't see the smile that broke out on her face.  
  
* * * *  
Isabel was never going to sleep again. Every time she tried to close her eyes she would hear the voices. She put her pillow over her head but nothing worked. Finally, in a fit of rage, she heaved the pillow across the room and got up. She went to Max's room and tapped on his door. When he didn't answer she opened it up and peeked inside. His bed was made and unslept in. She didn't know why she expected him to be there. He hadn't come home for dinner and he'd called her and asked her to cover with their parents but hung up before she could ask why. She could tell he was worried. He probably didn't tell her what he was doing because he didn't want to worry her too. He had been overly protective of her lately. And it was irritating the hell out of her.  
  
She went to the kitchen and pulled out the milk from the refrigerator. Warm milk had never worked for her before but she was desperate. She wasn't going to that dance with bags under her eyes. She padded into the living room and sat down on the couch. She put her hand over the milk and used her powers to warm it up.  
  
In hopes of getting some sleep, Isabel tried to think about pleasant things instead of the looming threat of alien invaders. She thought about what she'd wear to the dance. She had a red dress that she'd bought ages ago--before the whole Vilandra stuff started--that she'd never worn. She had bought it specifically because she knew Alex would like it. She set the milk down on the table and curled up on the couch. Thinking of Alex gave her a warm, comforting feeling. She closed her eyes and dreamed of him.   
  
* * * *  
Tess was sitting up in bed, her arms curled around her legs, staring straight ahead.  
  
"Are you OK," Kyle asked. She looked up and he was standing in her doorway. Or, technically, his doorway since it was his room.   
  
She didn't respond. She knew he didn't really care. None of them did and none of them ever would. She and Max were supposed to go to the movies that night. They hadn't called it a date but she had planned on convincing him that's what it was later. When he didn't show, she told herself that he was late and she'd gone in by herself, expecting him to turn up eventually. She was still telling herself that by the end of the second feature. When she had arrived at the sheriff's house she was in a foul mood. When she walked in and saw all the grim faces she knew her night wasn't going to get any better.  
  
Max had apologized profusely and she knew that he felt bad but it hadn't changed his reasons for forgetting. He explained everything that happened and she was spectacularly unsurprised when the whole story revolved around Liz. She had acted nonchalant but she was biting her bottom lip so hard that it had begun to bleed. She had wanted it to bleed.  
  
Then the sheriff got a call about some accident on the interstate and Michael, Maria, and Max decided to go back out in search of Liz and they left in a flurry of activity that hadn't included her.  
  
"You didn't sleep with Liz?" She finally asked Kyle.  
  
"No, I didn't."  
  
"So that's it then." She didn't have to clarify to him what she meant.  
  
Kyle didn't say anything for a long time.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
She nodded and didn't even realize that tears were pouring down her cheeks. Kyle sat down next to her and approached her awkwardly--not knowing quite what to do. She didn't wait for him to figure it out, she put her head down on his shoulder and started crying.   
  
* * * *  
When Liz woke up and glanced at the clock it was almost noon.  
  
"I'm glad it's Saturday," she mumbled as she stretched. She immediately reached for her phone even though her head was still a bit foggy. She hesitated a moment, deciding who to call first. She called Max. She was disappointed to find that no one was home. The machine picked up and she decided to leave a vague message in case his parents retrieved it.  
  
"Hi, Max, this is Liz. I need to talk to you and Isabel and Michael and everybody. We need to meet as soon as possible. Call me."   
  
She tried Maria next and found that she was gone too. Then she remembered that tonight was the school dance and Liz figured Maria and Alex were rehearsing so she didn't even bother with trying Alex.   
  
Frustrated without anyone to talk to she went into the bathroom. She took a long shower and felt almost normal again by the time she'd dried her hair and got dressed. She thought about calling Max again but decided, torturous as it may be, she wanted to see him in person. She had had the most fabulous dreams about him the night before. So she climbed out her window to go in search of Max Evans.  
  
* * * *  
Max hadn't slept all night. He couldn't stop thinking of what was happening to Liz. As he grew more tired, he couldn't stop thinking of what she was _doing _with Fox Mulder. He had checked every place that he could think of twice but he couldn't stop. He knew he needed sleep and food but he couldn't think of either when he knew she was in so much danger. He glanced at his watch and saw that it 1:30. It had been about twenty-four hours since he'd eaten. He didn't feel hungry but he decided he should grab something to keep himself from passing out.  
  
The Chinese restaurant that he and Liz had their first date was down the street so he headed toward it. When he was across the street from it he saw Liz bounding down the sidewalk toward the same restaurant. He had to blink to confirm the sighting. She was rushing along, her cheeks flushed, her hair streaming behind her, and her purse bobbing on her arm. She caught the door to the restaurant as someone was exiting and she hurried inside. Max shook off his astonishment and ran across the street and followed her inside.  
  
When he got inside he was about to call her name when, with her back to him, she waved to someone in a booth near the back. For some reason, that stopped him cold. She slid into the booth and he walked slowly toward it, dread inexplicably filling him. She had sat with her back to him and across from a man in a suit. A man that, as he got closer, Max recognized as Agent Fox Mulder. Numbly, he sat down with a thump in the booth behind them.   
  
"You want some aliens?" He heard Liz say with barely contained enthusiasm. "How about four?"  
  
  



	7. 

Max watched from the alley between the restaurant and a bookstore as Liz and Fox Mulder emerged

Max watched from the alley between the restaurant and a bookstore as Liz and Fox Mulder emerged. A waiter had told him he had to wait for a table like everyone else and made him leave his spot behind the couple. He'd gone because he hadn't wanted them to hear him. So now he watched with a nausea that felt like a serpent swimming inside his stomach as they stepped out into the afternoon sun.  
  
"Are you sure about this, Liz?" Agent Mulder asked. "It could be dangerous."  
  
"And spending the night in the desert with you wasn't," she laughed. "Besides, all I have to do is get them there and you can take over from there."  
  
Max watched her smile at him with that sunny, excited expression he loved.  
  
"Are you going to be OK?" She asked and she put her hand on his arm in an alarmingly intimate gesture.  
  
He nodded and smiled at her affectionately.  
  
"Well, I better get ready," she said. "I'll see you tonight."  
  
"I'll bring my net and fly swatter."  
  
She laughed and walked away. Agent Mulder walked in the other direction. Max felt his legs turn to jell and he slid down the wall until he was sitting on the ground, unable to feel his heart beating anymore. He didn't think that Liz could hurt him any more then she already had but she'd found the one way.  
  
* * * *  
Max walked around in a fog after that, his mind swirling with excuses for what he'd seen. But he could not come up with one explanation that would justify it. Liz was friend's with, if not more, an FBI agent whom she just promised to give four aliens. Believing that she slept with Kyle had devastated him, but this--this was a betrayal he could not even fathom. It was so far out of the realm of possibility that he couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it.  
  
He went to see Liz. She was going to tell him what was happening. She was going to explain it to him and it was going to make sense. It had to.  
  
He walked up to her window and was about to knock when she came out of the bathroom. She was stunning. She had on a dark blue strapless dress that made her eyes look like dark chocolate. And her hair was curled in soft waves that looked like black silk around her face. His heart swelled with pride for a moment before he realized that she wasn't getting ready for him. He choked back something in his throat, was about to knock when her mother came in the room. Max dove to the side so she wouldn't see him.   
  
"You look so beautiful, sweetheart," she said. "Max is going to drool when he sees you."  
  
"Mom, I told you, I'm not going with Max. I'm just going with a group of friends."  
  
"Then why are you wearing that perfume Max likes so much?"  
  
Liz blushed.  
  
"Because I like it." She picked up a handbag off of her bed. "Remember I'm going to be late."  
  
"All right but be careful. I'm still shook up about your car getting stolen. Have you heard anything about it from Sheriff Valenti?"  
  
"No, but I'll call him in the morning. Now I've got to go."  
  
Max watched Liz walk out with her mom. He followed Liz, sure she wasn't going to any school dance, but he was surprised when that's exactly where she went. His head was beginning to pound and he decided that he needed to talk to someone about what was going on.  
  
He found a pay phone and called home. His mother answered.  
  
"Hi, honey, I was beginning to wonder if you still lived here."  
  
"I'm sorry. I know I've been coming and going a lot."  
  
"Well, you are a teenager. Did you get Liz's message?"  
  
"Liz called?"  
  
"There was a message on the machine when I got back from shopping. She said she wanted you and Michael, Isabel and Tess to get together."  
  
Max felt his world tilt. _All I have to do is get them there._  
  
"Is Isabel there?"  
  
"No, she went to the dance. Isn't that where you are?"  
  
When he didn't answer she asked: "Max?" but the phone was dangling off the hook.  


* * * *

  
Maria was scanning the crowd for Michael. She was still worried about Liz but she was glad that she hadn't canceled. It took her mind off of worrying about her best bud for a while, plus it was a great gig. They'd perform for half an hour and then a DJ would work for half and they'd switch all night. It gave her a chance to dance herself--if someone would show up to dance with her. She just wished Michael would get there. The DJ was playing and she and the Whits were about to go on and she wanted to sing a lusty love song but it would be pointless if Michael wasn't there to  
hear it.  
  
She scanned the room once more. She saw Isabel in a gorgeous red sequined dress, fidgeting with her handbag. Then Maria almost dropped the microphone when she saw Liz walking toward Isabel.  
  
Liz made her way through the throng of dancing teenagers with relative ease. She knew she was going into a dangerous situation and she was strangely electrified by it. The DJ was playing a pulsing song that seemed to match the rhythm of her pulse. She could feel the music tingling beneath her skin. She spotted Isabel and headed in her direction. She found herself reciting the words to the song and she laughed at the irony.  
  
_Meet me in outer space.  
We could spend the night;  
watch the earth come up.  
I've grown tired of that place;  
won't you come with me?  
We could start again.  
How do you do it?  
Make me feel like I do  
How do you do it?  
It's better than I ever knew  
_  
When she reached Isabel she found the blonde in a much more somber mood. She tapped her on the shoulder and she thought Isabel was going to leap out of her skin.  
  
"Hi, are you OK?" Liz asked her.  
  
"Oh, yeah, great," Isabel said, looking around her. "Liz, do you think this is such a good idea?"  
  
Liz took both of her hands.  
  
"It will be fine, I promise."  
  
Isabel nodded. "I trust you."  
  
"Good." Liz smiled. "Now let's do this."  
  
And Liz led her toward the back of the gym.  


* * * *

Alex and the others started playing as soon as the DJ's song ended. Maria found herself pinned to the stage, expected to sing. At the far end of the gym, Michael walked in and at a side entrance Max rushed in, scanning the crowd. Maria felt like Bambi, trapped in headlights, so many options and frozen from doing any of them. And then she was inspired.  
  
"I'd just like to dedicated this next song to my best friend, Liz," she said into the microphone. "She's here tonight and looking just spectacular."  
  
Both Max and Michael's heads shot up and looked at Maria. Maria bobbed her head toward the exit Liz was headed toward. For her part, Liz looked up at the stage and gave Maria a cheerful wave and then hurried Isabel outside.  
  
Maria watched Max and Michael converge on the exit and grinned at her own cleverness. She smiled at Alex who looked at her strangely. Maria wasn't sure why until she started to sing and realized she'd just dedicated her lusty love song to Liz.  


* * * *

Max opened the door to the gym and was blasted by the cool air that the body heat in the auditorium had eliminated. The school backed up to an expanse of desert that went on into the mountains in the distance. The night seemed to devour everything around him so that he couldn't see anyone. Then he saw movement a few yards away. He turned and melted the lock of the gym door shut and then he headed toward it. He wanted to confront Liz on his own. Only that wasn't possible, he realized, when he got closer and saw her standing next to Agent Mulder. The smart thing to do would have been to sneak up behind them, hear their plan. The smart thing.  
  
"Liz," he shouted and he didn't recognize his own voice.  
  
Neither did she at first. She turned, her eyebrows dipped and her eyes squinting into the darkness. Then she saw him and the alarm on her face was damning. She walked toward him and put a hand up to Mulder to keep him back.  
  
"Max, what are you doing here?"  
  
Max walked up to her, stared down at her moonlit face.  
  
"You called and wanted to talk to me," he said, his voice raw.  
  
"I did? Oh! Yeah, I did. I do need to talk to you, but later, OK?"  
  
"Who is that?" He nodded at Mulder, still standing at a distance, his hand resting on something on his hip. A gun, Max realized. He swallowed.  
  
Liz looked at Mulder and then back at Max.  
  
"Max, please go back inside."  
  
"You promised Agent Mulder aliens. Here I am."  
  
Liz's mouth hinged open.  
  
"If you want to keep your promise, I'm here, but leave Michael and Tess and Isabel out of it." He was trembling. "If I misjudged you this much then just let me pay for that mistake."  
  
"Max...."  
  
He didn't notice the tears welling in her eyes.  
  
"But tell me one thing. What did he say to make you do all this? What did he do to make you pretend to sleep with Kyle, that made you betray me, betray everything that...."  
  
"Max, stop!" She shouted and Mulder was running toward them.  
  
Max knew it was coming to an end and he only wanted one more thing. He leaned down and found her lips, salty tasting from the tears, and he kissed her goodbye. He had intended it to be brief but, as what always happened, he lost himself in her. He felt her hands on his chest, he put his hands through her hair, he could feel the softness of her lips, smell his favorite perfume on her skin...and then the world exploded.  
  
It was as if she'd been trying to hold back and when she lost her grip the images hit him like a slap. They crashed over him so quickly he almost couldn't comprehend them all as they piled one on top of the other.  
  
He saw Liz, white lace over her head, staring at her mirror, reciting something, then she turned and was scared to find someone outside her window. When he leaned down to look inside, it was him--Max, staring at her.  
  
Liz pinned against her bedroom door by Max...  
  
Liz looking down at Max serenading her, while Max stood in the shadows behind her...  
  
Max and Liz in the senator's office peeking through the blinds...  
  
Max standing behind her while she undressed in her bathroom...  
  
Max and Liz on her rooftop dancing under the stars...  
  
Liz in her car, spinning off the road...  
  
Liz and Agent Mulder in her car, the back windshield exploding behind them...  
  
Then they were ripped apart. Agent Mulder had his arm and had pulled Max away from Liz. Liz stumbled back, clapping a hand over her mouth. The images fell away like broken glass between them. Mulder had his fingers dug into his flesh but Max scarcely knew he was there.  
  
"Liz, who was that? What was that?"  
  
Liz shook her head and took another step back.  
  
"Liz, that wasn't me. I saw myself but I don't have any of those memories. That wasn't me."  
  
Liz looked at Mulder and back at Max with panic in her eyes. But Max couldn't help himself.  
  
"Liz, what happened?"  
  
Liz let he hand fall away from her mouth. She was so scared she could barely breathe. "Agent Mulder didn't ask me to pretend to sleep with Kyle. You did."


	8. Behind Welded Doors

"Agent Mulder, can I have a minute

"Agent Mulder, can I have a minute?"

"Liz…" There was a warning tone to his voice.

"Please."

Mulder let go of Max's arm and walked a few feet away. He was out of earshot but still close enough to protect her if necessary.

"Liz, what is going on?" Max asked.

Where to begin? Liz's pulse was beating so fast and hard through her system she thought for sure she would have a heart attack.

"Michael and Maria said they found your journal. You wrote that some guy named FM made you pretend to sleep with Kyle, that he made you break up with me. FM. Fox Mulder."

Slowly she began to understand.

"FM doesn't stand for Fox Mulder, it stands for Future Max," she whispered. "Max, you came to me from the future. You told me that if I didn't get you to stop loving me then it would lead to the end of the world."

Max just stared at her for a minute. 

"Future Max?"

"It was you. You—he—Future Max told me that you were going to serenade me before you actually showed up. He told me that you learned the words for Mr. Delgado. He told me that you were going to bring me those Gomez tickets that night. We knew you were coming--that's why we set that whole thing up with Kyle. We knew that if you saw me with him you would stop loving me."

Max tried to wrap his brain around what she was saying but it was like she was speaking a foreign language.

"But why?"

"Because of Tess. If you and I continued to love each other it was going to drive Tess away and Tess is important to your survival, our survival. This planet's survival."

She looked up and saw Agent Mulder coming toward them again.

"Listen, Max, I don't have time to explain the whole thing right now. I'm in the middle of a whole other thing. You just—" She hesitated, realizing the level of betrayal he had believed her guilty of. "You just have to trust me."

That's where he'd gone all wrong. He hadn't trusted her. Not about Kyle, not about Agent Mulder, not about anything. He'd allowed himself to lose faith in her and that's where he'd gone wrong. He had trusted his eyes and his ears but never his heart. What she was saying restored the balance he'd believed in. With one hand, he took her hand and with the other he wiped the tears off of her cheek.

"I do." 

*****

Isabel was running. And in three inch heels that was no easy feat. She skidded to a stop and plucked them off. She sent one flying in one direction and then she chucked the other in the other direction.

"Come on out damn it!" She shouted into the night.

There was no response.

"You've been following me for weeks. You've been in my dreams, in my home, now here I am—willing to go and where the hell are you?"

She looked in every direction. The school gym was in the distance, just a shimmer of lights. Around her was a scattering of rock formations and brush but nothing else. No people, no aliens, no one else at all. She looked up into the stars.

"I'm ready to meet my destiny," she shouted in frustration. Still there was no reply. She shook her head and started back toward the gym. "I knew this wouldn't work," she mumbled. She looked down at her feet and knew her nylons would be shredded by the time she got back to the dance. "What a waste of pantyhose."

"You look beautiful, Vilandra."

The voice spiked goosebumps over every part of her body. She turned and there was a figure standing behind her. He looked human, but she couldn't see his face in the darkness, even with the full moon overhead. She took a step back.

"But then again, you always did."

He stepped toward her and she stepped back. That's when she hit someone. She turned and found the aliens that had been harassing her standing behind her. 

"It's time," the faceless figure said. "It's time to meet your destiny."

*****

"Agent Mulder," Liz said quickly. "This is Max, my boyfriend. He knows I'm an alien." She felt Max stiffen next to her but he didn't say anything to dispute her. "When he found out I was with an alien hunting FBI agent he sort of freaked, but he's fine now."

"He knows you're an alien?"

"He was at the Crashdown the day I healed myself of that gunshot wound. It's OK, I trust him."

Mulder looked at her and then at Max.

"So I should ignore the whole exchange about him not remembering doing things that you saw him do?"

Liz bit her lip and nodded. 

"Uh, yeah."

Mulder shook his head and was about to say something when a scream split the air. Liz and Mulder looked off in the distance then back at each other. Max recognized the voice.

"Isabel," they all said in unison.

*****

"What's the matter, my love? I thought this is what you wanted."

Isabel shook her head and tried to break free of the grip that the four aliens had on her. 

"No, I lied. I want you to leave me alone! I don't care what happened in any past life. There is no one in this world or any other that would make me betray my brother." Her voice sounded fierce but she was trembling so much she knew she would fall if her captors let her go. She still couldn't see the other alien's face as he walked closer and it was scaring the hell out of her. Then she realized that she didn't want to see his face and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"You said the same thing before, but you came to realize that your brother was not the leader that your people needed. I was. I am the only one that will love you the way you need to be loved."

Isabel stopped trembling. Her eyes popped open. 

"Then how did I end up dead?"

Before she could focus on the face in front of her he leaned in and kissed her, sensually, brutally. Images exploded behind her eyes—a star lit kingdom, strange beautiful creatures, and the touch of something frightening and exciting. And then she saw Alex's face, the way he looked right before he kissed her, his lopsided grin, the hysterical strip tease, everything that she loved about him. She brought her knee up and connected with her past life lover. He ripped away from her and she let out a scream. 

Only this scream was not a terrified scream, it was filled with rage. She twisted savagely in the grip of the aliens holding her as her past life love scrambled to his feet. When he reached for her again, she kicked him. She was tired of being tortured for something she did so long ago, for something she would never do again. And it was just about time she proved it. 

She ripped free from the four aliens and she whirled on them. 

"Get away from me!"

"You should not have done that Vilandra."

"My name is Isabel!" 

One of them lifted something up at her, she didn't know what it did but she was sure it was a weapon. She lifted her arms to ward it off when a gunshot split the air. The aliens holding the weapon fell. Isabel turned and there was a woman in a dark suit standing behind her, still pointing her gun at the other aliens. She had medium legthn auburn hair and intense blue eyes. 

"Back away from her," she ordered the aliens, in a tone that you didn't want to argue with. But the aliens merely grinned. The one she'd shot climbed to his feet. 

Isabel, now unsure of using her powers in front of a witness, backed away from the aliens. The woman with the gun fired at the aliens again but they just kept coming. 

"I don't think that's going to do it," Isabel said.

"What will?"

They were both backing away from the advancing aliens cautiously. 

"You don't happen to have a bat, do you?"

"There's a crowbar in my rental."

Isabel nodded and they both turned and started running. The car seemed like it was a million miles away and the mystery woman reached it first. She was trying to get her keys out as the aliens charged them. The woman turned and started firing pointlessly at the aliens. With her back to her, Isabel popped the lock with her powers and started clawing in the trunk for something to use against them.

She grabbed a steering wheel Club as someone grabbed her from behind. 

She took a swing and connected with one of the aliens. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other woman getting knocked off of her feet. 


	9. Circle of Friends

Scully, for reasons beyond her, was still waving the gun at her attackers even when she got slammed into the ground

Scully, for reasons beyond her, was still waving the gun at her attackers even when she got slammed into the ground. Finally she heaved it at the one she was fighting with and was immensely satisfied when she hit him in the forehead. It didn't detour him anymore then three bullets to the chest had, however. She curled her legs up; ready to thrust her heels into his abdomen when suddenly he burst into dust and disappeared. Standing in his place was Mulder, holding a baseball bat. 

"Hey, Scully," he said.

Scully scrambled to her feet. Mulder turned and started swinging at one of the other attackers and she saw that a petite brunette and a taller, dark haired young man, had also thrown themselves into the fray. The young man tackled one of the men attacking Isabel while Isabel herself swung the Club at one of the others. The petite brunette had a baseball bat as well and she approached the alien attacking Isabel from behind. 

Liz had the baseball bat that Mulder had provided her and she was coming up on the one attacking Isabel. She pulled back her arm to swing at the spot on his back that would obliterate him when the alien shoved Isabel to the ground and turned on her. Liz gave a little squeal and backpedaled. Isabel picked herself off of the ground and grabbed the Club with both hands. Max and the alien he was wrestling with rolled right to her feet. She sent the Club crashing down on it and it burst into dust. Max blinked up at her for a moment and then he scrambled to his feet.

"Are you OK?" He asked, looking her up and down for injuries.

"Yeah," she replied.

He took the Club from her and turned to see what had happened to Liz.

Mulder finally had an alien right where he wanted him. Unfortunately, the alien didn't know it. Mulder was swinging the bat at him but the six-foot seven alien was remarkably resilient. Mulder didn't want to resort to dusting him; the point was to bring one back alive. But the bastard wasn't cooperating. Nothing was working and the alien spread his hands in a gesture that said: take your best shot. Mulder shrugged and gave him a big shove. The alien fell back a few steps, laughing. Until it hit the rock formation behind him and exploded into dust. 

The alien stalking Liz backed her up against the car. She didn't think it would comply if she asked it to turn around so she would have a clear shot at it's vulnerable spot. Then she saw that it was reaching for her. She knew that she couldn't let it touch her. Her foot found the fender and she began backing up onto the hood of the car. It reached out and grabbed her ankle, it's touch was searing hot and she screamed. Then it disintegrated into dust. Mulder and Max were both standing behind where the alien had stood only a second before. Both had taken the alien out like dueling baseball hitters. 

"Are you alright?" Max asked.

Liz had heard that question more times then she could count but for the first time in days she meant it when she nodded and said: "Yes."

He took her hand and pulled her into his arms. She held on as tight as she could.

Scully came up to Mulder, looking disgruntled. "Now can you tell me what the hell is going on?"

*****

They all started walking back toward the gym a few minutes later. Mulder and Scully were discussing "what the hell was going on" while Liz explained in whispers to Isabel and Max what had been happening to her. As she spoke, the silence around Max was like a black cape. When she got to the part where she told them how she had told Mulder she was an alien to protect Max, it grew thicker.

"When I got to your house to explain things, I found Isabel there and she was being attacked by those aliens. We drove them off but she told me how they had been harassing her. I knew that she wanted to get rid of them and I knew agent Mulder wanted some aliens so I called his cell phone and he met me at---"

"The Chinese restaurant," Max said quietly.

Liz nodded.

"I told him that the aliens that were after me had started threatening my friends. He and I came up with a plan and I called Isabel and we met here. She agreed to be the bait." She looked at Iz. "I'm sorry we came so late. Agent Mulder and I got—", she glanced at Max, "distracted."

Isabel nodded. Liz looked to Max and found that he had stopped walking along beside her. She turned and looked at him. 

"Max?"

He had his head hung and when he spoke she could barely hear him.

"Liz, I can't even begin to say how sorry I am—for all of it." Try as he might, he couldn't look her in the eyes. "I took things out context and believed the worst and the whole time you were putting your life at risk to protect me."

"I'm beginning to realize how things must have looked. I know it must have looked bad—"

"It doesn't matter. I know your heart. I should have known better."

Liz tilted her head so she could look him in the eye. His beautiful brown eyes were swimming in unshed tears. 

"Max," she said quietly. "I would do anything to keep you safe."

"I know. And I'll never doubt that again." He looked her in the eye. "I swear."

She smiled. "I believe you."

And she kissed him and this time there were no revelations, except for how deep their love really went.

*****

Scully glanced at her watch and then back at the couple kissing in the moonlight. 

"It could be a while," Isabel said.

"Teenagers," Mulder mumbled.

Then Michael, Alex, and Maria came running up. Hearing the commotion, Liz and Max walked over to the group.

"Is everything OK?" Maria asked, casting doubtful looks at the two FBI agents. 

"Yeah," Isabel assured them.

"Well, we were worried because when I tried to follow Max, the exit got jammed somehow," Michael said, looking at Max. 

Max knew Michael was going to be pissed for keeping him out of it. He scratched his head and shrugged.

"I hate it when that happens," he said.

"So do I," Michael replied, looking like he wanted to hit something.

And that's when Sheriff Valenti's car came screeching to a halt next to them. The sheriff climbed out anxiously. He opened his mouth to say something, his expression grave, until he saw Liz standing there with the others. The relief on his face was evident. 

"Liz! I just left your car out on the interstate—full of holes!"

"Oh good, you found it. I already told my mom that I reported it stolen."

Valenti blinked at her. "We found blood. I thought you'd been shot."

"No, Agent Mulder was the one that got shot."

Valenti looked at the FBI agent.

"Fox," he said with a guarded nod. 

"Hello, Jimmy. It's been a while."

"It sure has. So what are you doing here?"

"I wish I could tell you."

"It's confidential."

"No, I really have no idea what's going on."

Liz took her que. "Agent Mulder, can I speak to you for a moment?"

He nodded and moved away from the group. But when she tried to follow, Max wouldn't let go of her hand. She smiled at him.

"It's all right."

He reluctantly let her go and she followed the agent to where his car was parked. He leaned against it and she couldn't help but think he looked like a GQ ad.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"About what?"

"You didn't get any aliens."

He laughed.

"What?" She asked.

"It wouldn't be the first time."

"Oh," she said, then she perked up. "But at least you captured Agent Krycek, right?"

"He was gone by the time the police got to the scene."

Liz's jaw dropped. "So this was a total bust for you."

"Not entirely," he said. "The important thing is that you're safe."

"Thanks." She looked down at her feet. She hated to lie to him. After everything he'd done for her she hated to still do it. "The thing with Max earlier—you see, there are some shape shifting aliens and they can look like anyone they want to and one of them came to me looking like Max and he made me do—some things—I know this is hard to believe…"

"I've met a few shape shifting aliens in my time. They're usually pretty nasty."

Liz remembered Nasato and how he had disguised himself as Max and he had let her kiss him. She remembered how much he'd enjoyed it. She shivered.

"Yeah."

She waited for more questions. There was so much she left unexplained. She tried to think of possible answers in advance. But his next question caught her completely off guard. 

"You are safe now, aren't you Liz?"

She looked over her shoulder at her circle of friends. When she looked at Agent Mulder again she was smiling. 

"Yes, I am."

Mulder studied her for a moment. "You have a lot of people that care about you. Maybe you are."

He stood up.

"If you need any more help or when you want to tell me the whole story, you have my number."

Liz blinked at him.

"That's it?"

He nodded and she threw her arms around him and hugged him.

"Thank you," she whispered to him.

When she let go Agent Scully was standing behind them.

"Come on, Scully. We're done here."

Scully waited until Liz went back to her friends before she turned her gaze back to Mulder. 

"We're done here? Mulder you have yet to tell me what we're doing here. First you were on 'vacation' and the next thing I know you have me coming down to Roswell, ranting something about Krycek and a fly swatter! The next thing I know people are vaporizing in front of me and now you're letting a prime witness just go off to a sock hop?"

"She's just a high school student who was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He glanced at Liz one more time before he climbed back into his car. Scully looked over at Liz too. Something in the way that Mulder looked at her seemed odd. And that's when she saw it too. Liz was standing, snuggled up to the young man named Max. She was smiling and chatting with the sheriff. Her dark hair was resting on her bare shoulders, her smile was sweet and genuine. And when she laughed, her whole face lit up.

"Samantha," Scully mumbled. 

The resemblance was superficial really. They only shared the most general traits, but from pictures that Scully had seen of Mulder's long missing sister, Liz Parker may look very much like what Samantha Mulder might, had she lived that long. It gave Scully some idea of why Mulder was walking away from this with so many unanswered questions. It's also why she would let him do it. 

*****

Everyone walked back into the dance sometime later. The DJ was glaring at Alex and Maria for hanging him out to dry but Maria was in too good a mood to let him intimidated her. She took Michael's hand and dragged him out onto the dance floor. Michael was still mad at Max for sealing him in the gym when he may have needed him but when Maria put her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his he relaxed quite a bit.

"You promised me a dance." Alex whispered into Isabel's ear. 

"I said maybe," she whispered back, but she didn't object when he took her hand. She knew that the four aliens that had been harassing her were gone but that the other one—the dangerous one—was still out there. But when Alex pulled her into his arms, she felt safe nonetheless.

Max was leading Liz out onto the dance floor but she skidded to a halt. A beautiful song was playing and she wanted to have Max's arms around her more then anything but—

"What?" Max asked.

Liz pushed her hand through her hair.

"Max, nothing has really changed."

"How can you say that?

"Because if we're together then Tess will leave and—"

Max shook his head.

"No, now I know how important she is to our survival. I have a knowledge that I didn't have before. We'll work on keeping her here, together."

Liz wanted to believe him more then anything.

"Besides, look."

He pointed toward the other end of the gym. Tess was standing at the edge of the dance floor and Kyle was trying to get her to dance. She looked rather put out to even be there but when he started doing John Travolta dance moves around her she grinned. Finally she rolled her eyes and let him take her onto the dance floor.

"I think things will be OK."

One of her favorite songs came on as he held his hand out to her. 

__

Sometimes, I feel the fear of

uncertainty stinging clear.

And I can't help but ask

myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer. 

"You just have to believe," he told her.

She smiled and looked him in the eyes.

"I want to believe," she said and she took his hand.

__

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there

with open arms and open eyes.

He pulled her into his arms and she laid her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating and she closed her eyes. She remembered something Future Max had told her: "After that, we never let anything come between us again." She held on to Max and knew exactly what he'd meant. 

The End


End file.
